Leadership is a blend of multifunctional skills and a deep understanding of diverse cultures, and one individual has dedicated her life to unlocking the full potential of leaders and teams in this progressive world. Lina El Assaad is a name that shines brightly. For over two decades, she has harnessed her extensive corporate experience, her passion for coaching, and her commitment to gender diversity to carve a path of influence and impact.
Lina is not only a coach. She is an Executive, Leadership, and Team Coach certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), standing as a beacon of empowerment and growth in the heart of Dubai.
A Coaching Maestro:
Her journey began 20 years ago, as she embarked on a career with Fortune 100 companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Danone, and Boston Scientific. Her roles in senior leadership, often spanning the European, Middle Eastern, and North African regions, equipped her with invaluable experience in managing cross-functional teams in fast-paced, multicultural settings. This wealth of practical corporate experience became the bedrock upon which her coaching expertise would later thrive.
With over a thousand hours of coaching under her belt, Lina has supported, C-Suite leaders and Ministry advisors in the delicate balance of self and leadership development. Her guidance has not only helped these leaders achieve their goals but also exceed them, unlocking their true potential. Her coaching prowess lies in her deep understanding of the unique challenges leaders face in the ever-evolving corporate landscape. She combines scientific tools and methodologies with her practical leadership experience, enabling executives to ascend to greater heights of success. Her clients hail from various industries, where she has cultivated partnerships with individuals from a diverse range of countries, including the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the UK, Egypt, Gabon, Sweden, the USA, Finland, Jordan, Tunisia, and more.
Championing Leaderships
As the President of the ICF UAE Chapter, Lina oversees the strategy and governance of the largest ICF Chapter in the MENA region. ICF, known as the gold standard of the coaching industry, upholds the competencies and ethics of the coaching profession. Lina’s role involves safeguarding these values and driving the chapter’s strategic initiatives forward.
In her role as an executive coach, Lina’s primary focus revolves around helping senior leaders develop the awareness and skills to excel in their roles and assume more prominent positions in the workplace.
Through her concerted efforts of coaching, mentoring and corporate facilitation, she seeks to initiate a ripple effect that commences at the upper echelons of leadership and extends its influence throughout organizations and society. By engaging leaders of influence, such as decision-makers, government officials, and ministry advisors, she identifies potential change agents who, having experienced the positive impact of coaching themselves, can share this transformative experience within their organizations and, in turn, influence broader societal decisions.
Creating Social Impact
Lina’s commitment to humanitarian causes extends to her coaching initiatives with global networks, where she coaches leaders operating in remote and challenging areas, including those from the UN.
Her passion for women’s empowerment is evident in her involvement with organizations like REACH and Challenge to Change. Through these initiatives, she mentors young businesswomen, helping them break through glass ceilings and navigate their career paths with confidence.
One of Lina’s most significant contributions to the world of leadership is her involvement in advancing the cause of gender equality. She achieves this through creating and delivering various coaching projects, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal #5, and the UAE gender pledge, which help women build their presence, embrace their strengths, and successfully transition to board room roles. She invites women to embrace their Authentic Feminine Leadership as an Ambassador for the Female Wave of Change in the UAE.
Recognition and Accolades Galore
Lina’s incredible journey has not gone unnoticed. Her dedication towards her craft earned her the prestigious Coaching Impact Award from ICF Global, an honor shared by only a select few in the coaching industry worldwide. She was invited to Orlando to accept the award and share her inspiring success story at the Converge Conference.
Her influence extends beyond the coaching sphere, as she was named one of Asia’s Top 100 Women Leaders in 2023. In addition, Lina received the Global Leadership Award for Best Executive Coach and Thought Leader, and the Mastermind Award for Best Executive Coach and Keynote Speaker. She was also recognized with the title of “Most Impactful Leadership.”
As a thought leader, Lina contributed to the publication in International Coaching Psychology Conference in Dubai, spoke on podcasts and was interviewed on multiple TV in the UAE and the region, demonstrating her reach and influence in the field of leadership and coaching.
Networking with Kindness:
Lina’s success isn’t solely attributed to her coaching skills but also to her remarkable ability to connect with people. She emphasizes that networking is about nurturing win-win relationships rather than just running through different events and exchanging business cards. Her belief that kindness breeds kindness is a driving force behind her networking approach.
Her impact is felt not only in the boardrooms of global corporations but also in the hearts of individuals she has coached and mentored. As an advocate for women’s empowerment and gender diversity, she continues to inspire and lead the way towards a more inclusive and empowered future.
A Word of Advice:
In today’s contemporary world, a multitude of challenges has arisen, spanning from geopolitical conflicts to the rapid emergence of AI and the presence of Generation Z, which poses unique challenges for decision-makers.
These challenges demand a fresh set of constantly evolving skills, including agility, adaptability, resilience, and empathy. To thrive in this dynamic landscape, Lina’s advice would be to consider adopting a growth mindset looking at challenges as opportunities for development and to leverage coaching.
Coaching is an invaluable tool for aiding decision-makers in effectively navigating these changes, facilitating smoother transitions, enabling swift decision-making, anchoring newfound knowledge, and fostering the development of empathy and adopting constructive behaviors.
Lina is a true champion of personal and professional growth, embodying the values she imparts to her clients and mentees: kindness, resilience, and purpose. In her co-authored book, “Shaken, Stirred, and Not Deterred,” Lina delves into the concept of purpose. She emphasizes that having a clear purpose act as a North Star, guiding individuals through setbacks and encouraging them to focus on open doors rather than closed ones. It’s a philosophy that undeniably underpins her extraordinary journey.
She comments, “Always ask yourself what’s the gift on any setback you face. It could be a valuable lesson learned, a deepened understanding of oneself and one’s limits, the accumulation of experience, or even the opportunity to connect with others facing similar challenges… there’s always a gift; we just need to find it.”
